Wire-fabric machine.



f F. E. WILLITS.

v WIRB FABRIC MACHINE.' APPLICATION :FILED JUNE 5-, 1909.

Patented May 28, 1912.

^ 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

P. E. WILLITS.`

ffl? Wzl/lfd,

'Patented May 28,1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F'. E. WILLITS.`

WIRE FABRIC MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 5, 1909.

Patented May 28, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET a l HTP/1101; FZ7 Wzl/fief,

P. E. WILLITS.

, WIRE FABRIC MACHINE. APPLIOA'TION FILED JUNE 5, 1909.

Patented Mayes, 191.2.Y

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

i To all whom t mag/ Concernl' UNITED @WENT-*OFFICE FREDERICK E. WILLiTs, CE KANSAS C1'rY,.ii /i1ssoum AssieNoE. CE ONE-FOURTH To WILLIAMQM. Roo?, 9F KANSAS CITY, izusscmm.v

' Be it known that I, FREDERICK. VVILLrrs,

.a citizen of the United States, residing' at .Kansas City, in the county of Jackson .and

vStute, Qf`Missouri, have invented certainnew' andfuseful 1m-proveniente in Wire-Fabric Machines, ofwhich'thefol-lowing .is a speci-- cation. n A

`My invention ,has reference to a wire fabric machine,andffparticularly to that.

classfor producing. Wire fences or. poult y netting comprising, strand-Wires and stay-V wires locked at their points of intersection ...strand fand the stay vwires at their by means of'staples. Y

'The part-icular features of the invention reside in' ,means forv producing the staples,

and'fmeaiisfoi-securing said staples to the points of intersection..

In `order that the vention. may be fully understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 represents a rear elevation of the machine.Y Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the saine on line H'QH of Fig. ,1. Figs. 3 and et are inverted and plan views, respectively,

of a pair of dies for securingthe staples atv gr theintersections ofthe strand-.wires and the stay wires.- Figo. is avertical section 0n line MLTV ofFig. 7 ,showing one of the devices fo r producingfthe staples and forcing the saine into 4the .die/s,v the plunger thereof f being in a raised position preparatory. to'

forming a staple. Fig. 6 is a similar view of the device with the plunger in its lowermostposition just after completing a staple. Figgis' a vertical section on line VH-VII -of11 ig.v5; Fig. 8 is avertica-l section online VlHjF-VLTH of- Fig.- 9, showing the staple forming device and .the dies which coperate therewith in forcing the staple around .the intersecting portionsr of the strand-wires and the stay-wires- Fig'. 9 is '-af vertical section on .line X-IX of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a cross section on line X-X ofFig. 6.- Fig. 11 is a breiten side elevation of the machine.

ln' carrying4 out the `invention I employ a;

suitable frame 1, in which a driveshaft- 2 is journaied,said drive-shaft being provided at its ends with pinions 3, which intermesh with andv drive apair of cog-wheels'4', iiied upon the ends yof a shaft 5, -journaled 4in spcification arterias-Patent.' Appu'auon inea runes, i909. serial N. 5oo,4'5s. y

frai'ne `1, and provided with a .plurality of portionsj and. 8 atthe ends thereof.' t

9 designa-tesa feed-roller inounted at the- :iQ-ear end of frame `1, and having its periphleryfdivided iiito equal parts by rows of pins 10, Roller 9 is suitably geared to., shaft. 5, so that each revolution of` the latter will ,turn the roller and feed the fenfforwad one step, lequal to the distance from the. center of one row of pins tothe center o fan -'adjacent row of pins. l L 11 designates the strand-wires forming-the longitudinal portion of the fence, and-12 vdesignates the stay-Wires which are fedgat regular intervals uponthe strand-wires, and

secured thereon at their points of inhersec--- tion by staples 13. i

14 designates a lower set of dies, each kof Patented May 28,1912.; Y

cams', the peripheries of which have raised i which is provided at its upper surface with intersecting grooves 15 and 16 for the reception of, `the'strand-wires 11 and` the st-ay-1 wires .1 2, respectively, which are directed into said grooves by .bifurcated guides 17 and 18, respectively, secured to the vert-ical sides of the-dies. The upper surface of each die'is also provided. with a pair of segmental l mounted upon a cross-bar 20 reciprocalhly-v mounted in frame 1 'which vhas slots 21 to' ooves 19, arran ed on opposite sides` ofV groove 16 which tiey parallel. Dies lfai'e receive Vthe ends of said cross-berg. Cross:

liar 20 is provided with a plurality eide-* .pending lugs 22 between which antifriction rollers 23 are journaled in the path of cams 6, which'engage said rollers at each wevolul tion and raise the lowermost dies. le into contact-wi'tha like number of'upper dies 24C secured to the underside of a' stationary cross-bar 25. .Each die 24 is provided stilts under portion with intersect-ing grooves 26.`

and 2'?, which register with grooves land 16, respectively. Grooves -15 have central depressions 15a for crimping the strandwires, and grooves 2 7jhave central raised ifioitions 2 7@ for crimping the s'tay wires where they intersect the strand `Wires, Each' die 2e is also -provided at'ts undersidewith s segmental groove 28 and aslot 29 an' ranged at rightaiigles to grooves 19,l and on' opposite sides ofgrooves 26 which they pai'-l allel. The endsjof groove 28 and slet`29 registei` with the ends of grooves 19, so that 1mi when a staple 'forced down into .the stot the ends of said staple will enter grooves'19 j the lower dies 14, so that when the latter are cross-bar 25, and communicating with slots brought into contact with the former, they' will be made to properly register therewith.

32 designates-a plurality of staple-forming devices, secured to the upper side ofthe 29 through slots 33 extending through the cross-bar.` Each staple-forming device 32 consists of a housing 34 secured to the u per side otbar 25, aplunger 35 reciprocaib mounted -in the housing, a pin 36 near the lower end of the housing, and a spring 37 secured at its upper end to the housing. Plunger 35 has a cutting-edge 38 for cutting up a wire 39 into short lengths from which the staples 13 are produced, and which `is fed into the housing through an opening 49 in the front side thereof. Plunger 35 is also provided with a bifurcated lower end 4l,

which straddles the pin 36 as shown in Fig.

6 in forming the staple. Plunger 35 is also provided with a reduced extension 42 which l forces lthe'staples down into the dies and around the strand wires and the stay wires, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. After a staple has 'been forme it is shifted' laterally into the path of extension 42 by a4 fork 43 carried upon the lower terminal of spring 37. As the plungerdescends it contacts with a. lug le on spring 37, and thereby forces the 'free end of the latter outward with yfork 43,

'which is carried into a recess 45 in the adjacent side of the housing, so as not to interfere with the bending of the staple around pin 36. After a staple has been formed around pin 36, itts snugly within the bij furcated end of plunger 35, and is carried upward thereby into. contact with amstop 46 projecting inwardly 4from the adjacent side of the housing. Plungers 35 are pivotally connected at their upperv ends to a crosshead'i? extending through slots 48in rame l in which cross-head 4:7 is reciprocablymounted. Said cross-head is actuated b a pair ofdisks 49 through the instrumenta ity of a pair of connecting-bars 50. Disks49, like cams 6, are xed to shaft 5 so that the plungers and the lower set of dies will operate 1n proper time with each other.

51 designates a pair of'pitmen pivotallysecured to disks 119 by a pair of wrist-pins 52, and pivotally-secured at their forward ends to a pair of levers 53,pivotallymounted upon a shaft 5ft, carrying the feed-roller 9.

Levers 53 are provided at their upper ends with pawls 55, which engage `ratchet-wheels 56, ltired on shaft 54C. Roller 9 is advanced one step at each revolution of the disks 49, through the intermediacy of the.v intervening mechanism. Roller 9 is prevented from the movable set of dies,

being' turned backward by wires 11, through the intermediacy 0i a pair of pawls 57, pivoted to the sides of frame 1, and a large pair of ratchetwheels 58 engaged by said pawls andxed to the ends of the roller 9.

Having described the construction of the machine, I .will now proceed to brieiy describe its operation.

' The strand-wires 11 are strung between the upper and lower sets of dies, as shown in Fig. 2, and wires 39 are fed to the staple- `forming dev1ces 32. Shaft 5 is constantly rotated, and through the intermediacy of the connecting parts `forces' the. plungers downward. In their downward passage the plungers cut the'wires 39 into lengths to ormV the staples l13 and force the latter downward into the segmental grooves of the dies and around the strand wires and the stays. After the plungers have formed the staples, the raised portions 7 of the cams lift the lower set of dies into engagement with the upper set and crimp the strandwires and the stay wires at their points oi intersection. The high portions 7 ofthe cams now pass ont of engagement with roll ers 23, and allow the lower set of dies to drop a slight distance, so that the descend-` ing plungers mayrea'dilyforce the staples into the grooves 19 and28, and around the strand wires and the stay wires. After this operation is completed and just before the plungersY start to move upward, the high portions 8 ofthe cams engage the rollers 23, and lift the lower set of dies, into contact with the stationary upper set to firmly clench the staples upon the intersecting portions of the strand wires and the stay wire. The cams `now pass out of engagement with rollers 23, and allow the lower set of dies to descend out of the path of the stay wire, so that the fence may be moved forward one step preparatory to placing anothei` stay wire 1n position upon the strand wires.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a wire fence machine, a stationary set of dies', a movable set of dies coperating with the stationary set for grasping the intersecting .portions of the wires forming the fence, means for forcing staples into said dies and around the intersecting portions of the wires and means for forcing said movable set of dies firmly into engagement with the staples before and after the same have been forced around the intersecting portions of the wires.

2. In a wire fence machine, astationary set of dies, a movable set of dies cooperating with the stationary set for grasping the intersecting portions of the wires forming the fence, means for forcing staples into said dies and around the intersecting portions of the wires, and a cam for actuating said cam having i noemen' -the fence, both sets of dies having means for crimping the intersecting ortions of the wires, means for forcing stap es into said dies and around the intersectlng portions of the. wires, and a cam for actuatingthe movable set of dies, said cam having means for forcing the movable set ofv dies firmly against the stationary set before the stapl'es are forced around the intersecting portions of the wires.

4. In a wire fence machine, a stationaryset of dies, a movable set of dies coperating with the stationary set for grasping the the wires, a cam for actuating the movable setof dies, said cam having means for foreing `the movable set of dies firmly into enagement with the staples Aafter the' same lave been `forced around the' intersecting portions of/the wires, andmeans for moving the fence forward one step after each operation of the movable set of dies. 4

5. .Ina wire fence machine, astationary set of dies, a movable set of dies-coperating with the stationary set for grasping the intersecting portions of the wlres forming the fence, both sets of dies having means for crimping the intersecting portions of the wires, means for forming staplesand forcing the same into the dies and around the intersecting portions of the wires, and means coacting with the 'movable set of dies to temporarily force them firmly into engagement with the intersecting portions of the fence wires to crimp 'the same before the staples are forced into the dies.

6. In a wire fence machine, a stationary v set of dies, a movable set of dies coperating with the stationary set for grasping the intersecting portions of the wires .forming the fence, devices for forming staples and forcing the same into the dies and around theintersectingportions of the wires, a journaled shaft, a 'cam mounted upon said shaft to actuate the movable set of dies, disks mounted upon the shaft, and connectingrods operably-connecting said disks and 'the staple devices.

7. In a wire fence machine, dies to grasp the intersecting portions of the wires forming the fence, a housing communicating with said dies and provided with a projection and an opening which latter is adapted to receive a wire, a plunger for cutting the wire into suitable lengths and bending the same into staples over the rojection, an extension on said plunger for orcing the staples into the dies and around the intersecting por` tions of the fence wires, a resilient member carried by the housing and controlled bythe plunger, and a fork carried by said resilient member for shift-ing the vstaples vinto the path of the plunger extension.

Intestimony whereof I aHiX mysignature, i

in the presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK E. WILLITS. 

